Efficient wireless call delivery across regional and political boundaries

Abstract

A method of reducing, or even eliminating, the tariffs, surcharges and long-distance charges that might be incurred for calls involving wireless switching centers in multiple regions (or countries) is disclosed. This is accomplished in the illustrative embodiment by trunking calls directly from the calling wireless switching center to the visiting wireless switching center, where advantageous, without trunking the call across a regional or political boundary as is done in the prior art. The illustrative embodiment of the present invention comprises: receiving at a first wireless switching center a first call set-up message from a second wireless switching center; transmitting, in response to the first call set-up message, a second call set-up message from the first wireless switching center to a third wireless switching center; receiving, in response to the second call set-up message, a first call set-up response message at the first wireless switching center from the third wireless switching center; and transmitting, in response to the first call set-up response message, a call set-up response message from the first wireless switching center to the second wireless switching center directing the second wireless switching center to set-up a call directly with the third wireless switching center.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A method comprising: 
       receiving at a first wireless switching center a first call set-up message from a second wireless switching center;  
       transmitting, in response to said first call set-up message, a second call set-up message from said first wireless switching center to a third wireless switching center;  
       receiving, in response to said second call set-up message, a first call set-up response message at said first wireless switching center from said third wireless switching center; and  
       transmitting, in response to said first call set-up response message, a call set-up response message from said first wireless switching center to said second wireless switching center directing said second wireless switching center to set-up a call directly with said third wireless switching center.  
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  wherein said first wireless switching center is in one region and said second wireless switching center and said third wireless switching center are in a second region. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  wherein said first wireless switching center is in one country and said second wireless switching center and said third wireless switching center are in a second country. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  wherein said first call set-up message comprises an E.212 address of said second wireless switching center. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  wherein said second call set-up message comprises an E.212 address of said second wireless switching center. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1  wherein said first call set-up response message comprises an E.212 address of said second wireless switching center. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  wherein said call set-up response message comprises an E.212 address of said third wireless switching center. 
     
     
       8. A method comprising: 
       transmitting a first call set-up message from a first wireless switching center to a second wireless switching center, wherein said first wireless switching center and said second wireless switching center are located in different regions;  
       receiving, in response to said first call set-up message, a call set-up response message at said first wireless switching center from said second wireless switching center to set-up a call directly with a third wireless switching center because said third wireless switching and said first wireless switching center are in the same region; and  
       transmitting, in response to said call set-up response message, a second call set-up message from said first wireless switching center to said third wireless switching center.  
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8  wherein said second wireless switching center is in one country and said first wireless switching center and said third wireless switching center are in a second country. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 8  wherein said first call set-up message comprises an E.212 address for said first wireless switching center. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 8  wherein said call set-up response message comprises an E.212 address for said third wireless switching center. 
     
     
       12. A method comprising: 
       transmitting a first call set-up message from a first wireless switching center to a second wireless switching center; and  
       receiving in response to said first call set-up message, a call set-up response message at said first wireless switching center from said second wireless switching center to set-up a call directly with a third wireless switching center; and  
       transmitting, in response to said call set-up response message, a second call set-up message from said first wireless switching center to said third wireless switching center.  
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12  wherein said second wireless switching center is in one country and said first wireless switching center and said third wireless switching center are in a second country. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 12  wherein said first call set-up message comprises an E.212 address for said first wireless switching center. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 12  wherein said call set-up response message comprises an E.212 address for said third wireless switching center. 
     
     
       16. A method comprising: 
       receiving a first call set-up message at a first wireless switching center from a second wireless switching center, wherein said first call set-up message comprises an indicium of a region in which a third wireless switching center is located;  
       transmitting, in response to said first call set-up message, a first call set-up response message from said first wireless switching center to said second wireless switching center because said second wireless switching center is located in the same region as said third wireless switching center; and receiving, in response to said first call set-up response message, a second call set-up message at said first wireless switching center from said third wireless switching center.  
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16  wherein said second wireless switching center is in one region and said first wireless switching center and said third wireless switching center are in a second region. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 16  wherein said second wireless switching center is in one country and said first wireless switching center and said third wireless switching center are in a second country. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 16  wherein said first call set-up message comprises an E.212 address of said second wireless switching center. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 16  wherein said first call set-up response message comprises an E.212 address of said first wireless switching center.